- Title: BOLIVIA: Aymara man may be the world's oldest man
- Date: 17th August 2013
- Summary: FRASQUIA, BOLIVIA (AUGUST 16, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF IDENTITY DOCUMENTS FOR CARMELO FLORES LAURA THAT CLAIM HE'S 123 YEARS OLD ILLAMPU MOUNTAINS WHERE HE LIVES FRASQUIA COMMUNITY OF HOUSES VARIOUS OF FLORES FEEDING HIS COW FLORES' HOUSE VARIOUS OF FLORES SITTING IN HIS YARD FLORES' SON, CECILIO FLORES, WIFE AND GRANDDAUGHTER ARRIVING FLORES' HANDS FLORES WITH GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER HOLDING HANDS FLORES' FEET IN SHOES MADE OF TYRES VARIOUS OF CECILIO FLORES, SON OF ELDERLY MAN CARMELO FLORES, BRINGING HIS FATHER FOOD VARIOUS OF ELDERLY FLORES EATING FISH DISH CARMELO FLORES' HOUSE VARIOUS OF FLORES' FAMILY INSIDE HOUSE SHOWING DIFFERENT FOODS FLORES AND FAMILY TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Aymara) CARMELO FLORES LAURA, ELDERLY MAN WHO CLAIMS TO BE 123 YEARS OLD, SAYING: "I used to not eat mushrooms, with quinoa leaves and ground barley, because there weren't noodles nor rice. These products didn't exist." FLORES WITH HIS SON, SON'S WIFE, GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN (SOUNDBITE) (Aymara) CARMELO FLORES LAURA, ELDERLY MAN WHO CLAIMS TO BE 123 YEARS OLD, SAYING: "Everyone who lived here has already died, men and women, I am the only who is still alive. Even my wife died." FLORES' HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Aymara) CARMELO FLORES LAURA, ELDERLY MAN WHO CLAIMS TO BE 123 YEARS OLD, SAYING: "I don't know how long I shall live. I don't know. Only God knows. He will decide how long I'll live. He'll tell me if I will die or keep leaving. Only He decides." FLORES' FEET IN SHOES MADE OF TYRES FLORES CHEWING COCA FLORES AND RELATIVES SITTING ON A BLANKET ON THE GROUND AND EATING (SOUNDBITE) (Aymara) GREGORIO CONDORI, GRANDDAUGHTER OF CARMELO FLORES LAURA, SAYING: "Sometimes, he tells me his head hurts and I tell him to go outside because he doesn't have to do anything so I tell him to rest. My grandfather pulls out his blanket and lies out all the time." VARIOUS OF CECILIO FLORES DRESSING HIS FATHER TO GO OUT FOR A WALK CARMELO FLORES WALKING OUT OF HOUSE VARIOUS OF CARMELO FLORES SHOWING HIS IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Aymara) CECILIO FLORES, SON OF CARMELO FLORES LAURA, SAYING: "I tell my father that he raised me and took care of me; now it's my turn to take care of my father. That's my decision. CARMELO AND CECILIO FLORES (SOUNDBITE) (Aymara) CECILIO FLORES, SON OF CARMELO FLORES LAURA, SAYING: "When I took him to the city of La Paz, my father told me that he felt like he was in jail, locked up with a key. He told me, 'I can't stand this confinement anymore. When I leave this house, I just see walls and vehicles emitting smoke.' He told me he couldn't stand to be in the city anymore and just wanted to return to his land." VARIOUS OF ELDERLY MAN WITH HIS SON WALKING THROUGH THE ANDEAN PLATEAU
- Embargoed: 1st September 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Bolivia, Plurinational State Of
- Country: Bolivia
- Topics: Quirky,People,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAC5SBJTIK9IVIOQSIXT6NVKXWU
- Story Text: High up in the Andes near the banks of Lake Titicaca, an indigenous Aymara native could be the oldest living person ever, that is if his records are proven correct.
Carmelo Flores Laura, who believes he was born in 1890, has a humble life in the small town of Frasquia. Living in a straw-roofed hut some 4,000-metres (13,000-feet) above sea level, the native Aymara can still walk despite his fading vision and speaks no Spanish, communicating in the language of his indigenous ancestors.
What is Flores Laura's secret to a long life? The Bolivian peasant has lived a traditional existence high up in the Andes from local fish, produce such as quinoa and beans and a lifetime habit of chewing coca leaves.
"I used to not eat mushrooms, with quinoa leaves and ground barley, because there weren't noodles nor rice. These products didn't exist," he said.
Surrounded by his many great grandchildren and his son and daughter-in-law, Flores Laura told Reuters he has outlived everyone in the town, including his wife Micaela who passed away a decade ago.
"Everyone who lived here has already died, men and women, I am the only who is still alive. Even my wife died," said Flores Laura.
Having fought and survived in the 1934 Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay and still keeping up a daily routine of taking walks in the village, the Aymara native told Reuters only God knows how much longer he has.
"I don't know how long I shall live. I don't know. Only God knows. He will decide how long I'll live. He'll tell me if I will die or keep living. Only He decides," he said.
Wearing shoes made of recycled material from tyres, Flores Laura passes much of his day chewing coca leaves and watching life in his desolate village go slowly by.
"Sometimes, he tells me his head hurts and I tell him to go outside because he doesn't have to do anything so I tell him to rest. My grandfather pulls out his blanket and lies out all the time," said granddaughter, Gregorio Condori.
Worried about Flores Laura's largely isolated existence up in the Andes, his only living son, 67-year-old Cecilio Flores keeps a close watch over his ageing father.
"I tell my father that he raised me and took care of me; now it's my turn to take care of my father. That's my decision," said son Carmelo Flores.
After a brief stint in the capital La Paz, some 80 km (49 miles) away from Frasquia, life in the big city was not for Flores Laura who moved back to his rustic traditional village.
"When I took him to the city of La Paz, my father told me that he felt like he was in jail, locked up with a key. He told me, 'I can't stand this confinement anymore. When I leave this house, I just see walls and vehicles emitting smoke.' He told me he couldn't stand to be in the city anymore and just wanted to return to his land," said Cecilio Flores, son of Carmelo Flores Laura.
No official birth certificates were issued in Bolivia until 1940 but Flores Laura says his baptism certificate shows he was born on July 16, 1890, which would make him 123 years old.
Flores showed Reuters Bolivian identity documents based on that baptism certificate but the Civil Registry Office refused to verify his age, saying they are currently investigating the validity of the documents and cannot comment until that investigation is completed.
With no official state record of his birth, the Aymara native may not find his name in the Guinness World Records. According to Guinness, the oldest verified age in the world was Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment at 122 years. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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